Every once in awhile I post what I’m reading at the moment. Here’s a current list:
Thomas Jefferson: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall is a one-volume biography on the man himself. Probably the best biography on a Founding Father I’ve read to date. A slow read, but a good one nonetheless!
Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America by James Webb. Now I’ve seen this book passed along and advertised before on LewRockwell.com, which oddly enough is a anarcho-libertarian website geared towards “anti-war, anti-state, pro-market” folks. For one reason or another, I instantly labelled it as an apologia for antebellum institutions and such and never paid attention to it until now. I’ll be sure to give my own overview of the book in a week or so.
Patton and Rommel by Dennis Showalter. Patton being my favorite American general, and Rommel being a worthy adversary. Both studied Stonewall Jackson, both had roots to the Fredericskburg area (Rommel stayed at the Washington Hotel in the late 1930’s touring the Fredericksburg battlefields). Both led from the front. While both are regarded as the best generals of the Second World War, they never met on the battlefield. Good stuff so far (seeing as I just bought it).
Failure of the Founding Fathers by Bruce Ackerman. I bought this thanks to a review QandO posted a few weeks back, and I haven’t started reading it yet. I will though…
The Victory of Reason by Rodney Stark. Thesis: Christianity gave birth to the Age of Reason, and only because of Christianity do you have the concepts of freedom of conscience, capitalism, and the free market.
And of course, there is Stephen Dando-Collins’ history of the Sixth Legion, which I have not read but will. If you haven’t heard of this series, start with Caesar’s Legion, which is a history of the Tenth Legion and is one of the best books I have read on Roman history. Ever.
I’m off to bed and off to finish reading Jefferson. Funny thing here – Jefferson used to be one of my favorite founders, until about 10 years ago when everyone and their brother found if fashionable (and profitable) to destroy the Founders’ starting with Thom. Jefferson himself. Jefferson has since enjoyed a personal renaissance in my mind over the last year or so, and Randall’s biography is just fuel for the fire.